Milan Taking Galaxy “For a Ride” over Beckham

Since we’ve spent part of the past few days on this site discussing lousy journalism, including the Baseball./American Football centric American sports writers and commentators, it’s time to focus on recent inaccurate reporting in the European press.

Over the past ten days numerous stories with no factual basis whatsoever have appeared in the Italian and English press. These stories were wholly inaccurate and served a purpose of making Milan appear to be closer to signing David Beckham that they actually have been.

My suspicion is that these stories were not planted by AC Milan but in fact by Beckham and his handlers in an effort to put the Galaxy on the defensive and force a quick resolution to the matter. It’s no coincidence many of these stories have appeared in British media outlets. We repeatedly heard how close the sides were to an agreement, that negotiations were ongoing and that the Galaxy were eager to resolve the situation.

Based on these published reports I actually questioned what I was hearing from my sources in Southern California. I had been told that the Galaxy were insulted by Milan’s initial offer and that no offer had been made in several weeks. What I was hearing was directly contradicted by PUBLISHED reports in the European press.

Well now we know the Galaxy was being “taken for a ride” to use the words of team President Tim Leiweke. Everything I was hearing was accurate. Milan was not offering anything close to what the Galaxy required to part with Beckham’s services.

David Beckham has not only acted in an unprofessional manner but had he simply communicated with the Galaxy, his contract employer he may have understood the club’s resolve in this matter. Instead Beckham and his handlers have seemingly resorted to a proxy negotiation using the press in Europe to the players advantage.

No one questions Beckham’s recent accomplishment of tying the late great Bobby Moore’s England cap record (although it is insulting to Moore that a player of his class should be compared Beckham who probably ranks outside of the top 10 English players of the last 20 years). But at the same time Becks has engaged in what can only be described as gamesmanship through the press. That does not reflect well on sportsman of David Beckham’s reputation.

About The Author

A lifelong lover of soccer, the beautiful game, he served from January 2010 until May 2013 as the Director of Communications and Public Relations for the North American Soccer League (NASL).
Raised on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers of the old NASL, Krishnaiyer previously hosted the American Soccer Show on the Champions Soccer Radio Network, the Major League Soccer Talk podcast and the EPL Talk Podcast.
His soccer writing has been featured by several media outlets including The Guardian and The Telegraph. He is the author of the book Blue With Envy about Manchester City FC.

48 Comments

IanFebruary 21, 2009

Nice write up but quite honestly I am tired of hearing about and reading about this story. Can we please move on?

Beckham has treated Galaxy like dirt! The club graciously acted with a gesture of great selfless kindness and good faith and lent him out to A.C Milan and bent over backwards yet again to accommodate yet another selfish Beckham whim. Look how he has repaid this kindness! He his nothing but a greedy, selfish and self serving Judas of the highest order!

If it wasn’t because of Beckham, nobody would even take a look at the MLS. Beckham only wants to represent his country in the next year’s world cup. In order to do that, he is required to play high level football (not MLS). So, what is wrong with giving him one last chance? Let’s put the money aside for once and think about what a football player really wishes. For him, playing on the national team isn’t just a job, it is a privilege, privilege that Americans do not understand because they only care about what’s in their country (baseball, their so called football, and basketball).

How altruistic, MLS should “put the money aside” to acccomodate Beckham’s wish to play for England! Since when is MLS a charity???

What exactly does the Galaxy owe the English national team?

How many people are reallyl “looking” at MLS that didn’t before? Attendance and TV ratings, after a minor spike up, are about the same now as they were pre-Beckham. I’ll be they’ll remain about the same once he’s gone. He sold some t-shirts and partied in Hollywood. He didn’t give MLS a reason for being.

USA Soccer sucks. (includign their fans) . I dont blame Beckham for wanting to leave to a higher level. Even Donovan wants to go back to Germany. You blame them??! USA will have to rasie the overall level or good players will not come here.
BTW: ITS CALLED FOOTBALL!!! NOT SOCCER!!! Get it.

Soccer = An American “Sub-Culture” of the European Football Sport.
American just bang the ball up and down the pitch. You dont need 11 players for that sort of thing.

I’d point out that the English clubs have in the past denied US National Team members the opportunity to represent their country in friendlies even bending FIFA rules at times. We have a number of American footballers who put their national tea ABOVE their club teams regardless of where they play club football.

Richard your comment smacks of total ignorance about American football and our national team player pool and our priorities. If English clubs cause trouble for the US National Football Team than why must an MLS team accommodate the English National Team.

Oh I get it. Because you are going to win the World Cup in 2010, just like you did in 2006, 2002 and 1998.

Same for you Joe Da Bone. Do you even watch football in the US? Have you watched our national team in meaningful games? (Not in friendlies where we trot out a “B” team like we did at Wembley last year.)

The sport is called football as you mention. I NEVER refer to the sport as Soccer, which is slang and inappropriate. Please save your anger and immaturity for someone else.

Screnario: USA plays Mexico 1:0 or 1:1 and its a big deal. When USA has to play a real team, say Argentina, Its 5:0 for the Gauchos… case closed.
I fel bad for USA because the managers and leaders dont know what they are doing.
Beckham was hacked to death by many hillbilly players. Do you blame him for wanting to seek higher ground?
USA should do ALOT MORE, if they want to be taken seriously in the World Arena.

Some MLS teams stil play on NFL fields with goofy yardlines and numbers. The media sees this and everybody laughs, thinking USA cannot get their act together. Annoying to watch Freddy Adu make a touchdown. Get real!
Pro USA here – BUT! USA has to do more to be on the same page with Germany or other European Lands. See my point?

The European press can talk all they want. North Americans generally ignore Europe. By putting out rumours in English and Italian papers, Beckham has gotten himself no further in the transfer market. The Galaxy will feel no pressure because the only people who pay any sort of attention to those papers are generally people who don’t want MLS.

Some ignorant remarks indeed. The isolationist attitude will allow you to stay on the bottom for a long time.
USA goes bonkers over European jerseys and european matches. Who cares about US games anywhere?? Americans dont even watch their own games. LOL
Freddy Adu left you and did a smart thing. American BANGBALL on NFL pitches is rather susbstandard. Its simply not a real football nation or culture. Limping behind all other nations. Ignorance is bliss.

This is a big moment for MLS. The first time in it’s history really that it holds the cards on a major European team. Lets hope they play their hand well. The outcome can very well influence how quickly MLS grows on the international scene. It deserves attention from this website.

As to those from across the pond who apparently believe that a victory over a principality or two is of some importance while defeating a major soccer power like Mexico is of no value should go back to their rugby game and dream about a cricket game back in 1972 that England somehow won by an act of God and which is still held up as a sign that Enlgand is a major sporting power. Dream on! What really hurts those who attack the US Men’s team is that the team contains many a star from the EPL who you know they think should play for Enlgand. Too bad, they are Red, White, and Blue stars and won’t play for any crown. Stars and Stripes Forever!

Oh I forgot, I think we should all push for England to get to host the WC as soon as possible. It may finally silence a few people when England does not advance from their group on their home turf. What will the excuse be then! It will have the added benefit of saving England from being embarrassed by failing to qualify. Did I miss the England team last summer in Euro 08. Can someone tell me what group they were in? I did have the honor to see the American team win the Gold Cup in Chicago in 2007. And before I forget who owns the top teams in the EPL, possibly some guys who learned their business in the NFL.. Have to run to see some of the worlds greatest sporting action in the NBA tonight.

i agree with joe……. americans are fools when it comes to football..they call it soccer for god’s sake……if a guy wants to go and play for a good club and earn some rep…let him.atleast he’s not like A-Rod..”spicing” things up….or like Tom Brady spending a goddamn year to recover from knee injury….before calling football players whiners look at your own players …. hypocrites…at least footballers don’t take steroids…@ Karthik ,,,, no club is ever going to leave players for friendly games….for the World Cup its different….or olympics…remember the US Baseball team in beijing….

Let’s see, eventual champions of the World Cup USA played a man down and drew: USA played Spain and lost 1-0; not that shabby. There are examples of the US defeating Argentina and can it be? Even Brazil. Case closed.

Facts seem to be Beckham is super rich: can’t he with aid from Adidas buy out his own contract? I’m sure his credit is good. For all the money he makes, I mean if it is that important to him; why not?

Sure, MLS is a step down, the English game has it’s own problems, Greed, read http://www.worldsoccer.com and Brian Glanville (an Englishman). The EPL or La Liga or Serie A are not the final word on football.

Dwaine Chambers? Tour De France? You have your drug problems over there, Marseilles? World Cup ’54? A certain Mr. Cannavaro shown doping? http://www.lonympics.co.uk/Cannavaro.htm … so don’t give us all that.

AC Milan probably expects the MLS to just keel over, so their offer is final, good. Doesn’t Don Fabio Capello have some pull with the team in Italy as well? Probably. And he still picked Beckham while playing in the MLS. That’s what Don Fabio is paid millions for by the way. If he can’t distinguish Beckham as matchfit. I don’t know. A lot of people in England also don’t like DB playing on the 3 Lions in the first place.

What? Didn’t he cost England a loss in the 1998 World Cup, England eliminated by Argentina and Beckham received death threats? There’s a lot to this story.

MLS and La Galaxy are to be admired and it wouldn’t surprise me if a lot of this has just been a publicity move anyway until the MLS got serious and said they were fed up with this circus, soap opera.

Last time I checked Karsh, Europeans couldn’t give a damn about our “game.” Whether it be NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL or in this case, MLS, Europeans trash our game.

Major League Soccer is trying to get respect from Europe and what do Europeans do? Dump on them for doing exactly what any First Division team in Europe would do. Refuse to sell a player for less than he is worth. Respect our sport, my ass. Europeans are the most isolationist sports fans in the world, and consistently dump on anything we produce.

Karsh, then how do you explain Pompey holding up Nico Kranjar from joining his Croatian team mates for Euro 2008 sending Slavin Bilic into a rage and making him strongly consider filling charges with FIFA? Maybe Harry Redknapp considered the Euros a friendly match because we all know a tournament that England does not participate in or qualify for is not a legitimate event.

Karsh for the millionth time I do not call the game Soccer. That is inappropriate slang. Like your Brit buddy above if you want to accuse people of being typically American and disrespectful towards the game I’m the wrong guy.

Let me give you a history lesson since you are so dismissive of MLS. Were you around in the mid 1990s? Do you recall when the Satellite TV created English Premier League was viewed as a joke on the continent of Europe. A retirement home for washed up continental players, a place for below standard colonials to play (Africans, and West Indians), the domestic league for a nation that failed to qualify for the most recent World Cup (1994), and a league whose big star had been kicked off his national team (Eric Cantona). Do you recall that or are you 14 years old and have lived your entire life in an era of English club hegemony?

Things go in cycles and MLS circa 2009 while a below standard league isn’t the joke you make it out to be. Once again it’s difficult to compare a league in a flat country where it rains all the time and the greatest distance to travel is 300 miles to a nation with 3 time zones, 6 hour flights between games, matches played at altitude and wild swings in temperature.

The only league the MLS can be compared to is the Mexican League, which btw is substantially better than MLS, but like the PL is filled with foreign players and poor youth academies, which is why Mexico’s national team is falling off the face of the earth. Comparing MLS to ANY European league is flat out silly.

I hear that often, don’t call it football but it only takes a short time to find references in England calling it soccer. I realize it is not the word of choice but it still seems to be regularly used.

I read a lot of books from over there and I think I’ve seen the Irish say soccer as well.

Anyone from Europe who takes football in America seriously lacks self respect.

Football is an English game and in the present day we have the top domestic league in the world and one of the top three national teams.

Speaking of eurosnobs, kartik the continent was dismissive of the EPL at its inception and in the early days because they knew ultimately England is the home of football and since we had gotten our act together with regards to the league that we would eventually dominate the UEFA scene. The hatred, envy of England again shows itself with a figure like Platini who is trying to use UEFA to undermine English dominance in football. Everyone in Europe is envious of England right now. We’re dominating the football world.

So yes the Europeans did say that but they said it out of fear.

Has The United States ever beaten Argentina in a competitive match? How about Brazil? Portugal has been our boggy team but it is not like the Americans could ever beat them. Germany? 5-1 we beat them in Munich. Has the US EVER beaten Germany or like England will you cite “1950” with a bunch of school kids who weren’t even American passport holders.

You are insignificant in the football world. While that may be a pity for you, it is really no different than 95% of the nations that play football. You make World Cups because your region features lowly footballing nations and now you will dominate Mexico because we all know Sven cannot manage, but do you really matter?

David Beckham, one of the great footballers of the current generation has passed his verdict and it is that you are ten years behind. Have fun supporting the backwards domestic league that calls it self ML SOCCER

Three Lions, stop the arrogance and actually read above, the US beat Argentina in the Copa America. I think the US beat Portugal in some important event within the last 10 years??? And no way can you claim your national team is top 5 much less top 3. A top 3 team would do better than:

Euro 1992: 4th in group, did not reach quarterfinals
World Cup 1994: Did not qualify
Euro 1996: Lost in semifinals though hosting
World Cup 1998: Round of 16
Euro 2000: 3rd in group stage, did not reach quarterfinals
World Cup 2002: Quarterfinals
Euro 2004: Quarterfinals
World Cup 2006: Quarterfinals
Euro 2008: Did not qualify

Not once in the last 20 years has England finished top 3 in an important event. But you pay foreigners well to play in your league so I suppose that makes England top 3??? I am actually a fan of many things about English football but don’t understand your need to come on here with such false information and ludicrous claims?

I am Englishman who lives in Florida. I faithfully every weekend go to the pub to watch Preston matches or whatever else is on.

I too find the Americans ignorant, intolerant and dismissive of football. The term soccer annoys me as does the terrible commentary of the American newspaper elite and FOX News………yes I agree with Kartik earlier posting almost 100%. While conservatives back home embrace sport and football just as labourites do, I find conservatives here almost universally hate the sport because it is foreign.

This is not the discussion I choose to focus on however. It is the failure of some of my fellow Englishman to separate the disdain we all feel for the typical American attitude towards football and British sport in general with the realities of those in the United States who play the game and play it well.

Major League Soccer is not of a Premier League standard. We all understand this. However the American league provides some entertaining, and skillful football, played by those who represent their country. It also provides some dull matches. In other words it is just like every other league in the world.

I believe the American player is fairly good even by a British standard. Most Americans prefer playing to a more Brazilian/south American style tactics on wider pitches. That is part of the reason why you don’t see American players with a few exceptions stand out in Europe.

Dismissing the US National Team entirely is silly. I’m more dismissive of the English footballer than the American player. We have Englishman like Paul Scholes and Jamie Carragher who believed at a relatively young age that club football was more important than representing our nation in the World Cup or Euros.

Americans on the other hand fly halfway across the globe at a moments notice to put on the US shirt. That’s why the US team is better than the sum of their parts. That’s why the Yanks have beaten Portugal in a World Cup, and Argentina as well as Brazil at the Copa America.

The American footballer has a passion for the game: a passion about building their league and a passion for their national team and the shirt. Many English footballers have lost this. Beckham has not and I love him for it. But before attacking the Americans think about the Carragher types who’d rather represent Liverpool than England as well as the players like David Bentley who withdraw from squads in major tournaments because of his club commitments. I can tell you that almost never happens in the US, where a call to the national team is seen as the ultimate fulfillment of a footballers career.

Here is Minneapolis, I came upon in a pub league, Englishmen playing a football game near our house the day after 7/7, the day the bombs went off in England a few years ago and since these guys were sort of dressed in 3 Lions kits, I cheered them on since I’ve followed that team closely since 1986. There is a British Pub down town, Brit’s Pub where I was told when the Galaxy toured through here, Beckham stopped off in.

It’s a pity when we slag off other teams or countries. I can not understand why this should turn into slagging each other off.

The UK notoriously, has games they invented just like the US, they have their cricket, we have baseball.

Though times have been good lately under Capello, I was down at Brit’s Pub on the loss to Croatia, both times, that saw England not go to the Euro, no crying but not a lot of fun.

The sad thing is that the National team is the ultimate fulfillment in Canada, and I don’t think we’ve even qualified since the 80s… I happen to like the American team, although I would never cheer for them.

One can only hope we get a coach who can pull together the talent we actually have and make them work. They’ve been playing with outdated soccer tactics for 20 years now.

Thanks, I think you did more then anyone else to highlight the argument here the last few days. Yes, many Americans dismiss soccer out of hand. Many an English dismiss basketball or hockey out of hand. Both attitudes are wrong.

Thank you for the kind words on MLS and the US Men’s team. The good news is that MLS is improving and the US Men have become a factor in world football. US sports fans are showing more interest in soccer all the time. There is some good news in the world.

Football::: its one simple thing…most awesome popular sport in the world… don’t be ignorant and respect it….have you even seen someone tell you off for rugby or cricket….even they are very popular…but for football we are hurt when you make fun of it and we want it to stop…..

About the main issue…..look over the money side of things for once and let Beckham fulfill his wish of playing for his country..an honor many American athletes don’t want to have….

PS: Watch an episode of any show on ESPN e.g. sportcenter…and they spend at least 40% if not more of the time discussing money…..even we discuss money when it comes to club football but not as much as these american shows do….

Please understand that we call it “soccer” because “football” is a pointy ball game played in a gridiron. That’s how it is, whether anyone likes it or not. I don’t get why many English writers and fans make such a big deal of it. It’s a word.

I’m an American who has lived in Maryland for my whole life. I grew playing the game and now referee it. I watch the MLS because I can hop on the Metro and go watch D.C. United. I know the soccer isn’t what the richest four teams in the richest four European leagues play, but it’s quite good and professional. It’s also my own. I dreamed of watching professional soccer in person that wasn’t indoor wallball. I can’t embrace foreign teams because I can’t go to their games.

As far as the Galaxy management is concerned, they are merely doing what any self-respecting organization would do. Mr. Beckham’s services would surely earn the Galaxy more than $3 million. No hack pieces in any foreign sporting press will change that fact.

Sorry when talking about “football” being the pointy-ball game, I was referring to here in the United States. No amount of boos from English soccer fans will change that fact, regardless of how little sense it makes. I use “soccer” because it’s the word I grew up with describing my favorite sport and because people think I like pointyball if I say I’m a football fan but get that I like soccer if I say i’m a soccer fan.

I think snobby English fans just use it a reason to look down on someone. If it wasn’t a word, the same group would find something else to make a mountain out of a molehill.

About the main issue…..look over the money side of things for once and let Beckham fulfill his wish of playing for his country..an honor many American athletes don’t want to have….

The US which has a player pool of 80 plus national team members doesn’t have guys like Carragher retire in his 20s from the national team to focus on his club career…ie money.

We don’t have guys like Bentley and Ablongahor who simply don’t show up for tournaments because they want a summer vacation.

IT IS AN HONOR TO PUT ON THE US SHIRT, REGARDLESS OF WHAT YOU THINK OF US. WE DON’T HAVE CARRAGHER’S SCHOLES OR BENTLEY’S WHO BELIEVE THEIR CLUBS AND MONEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN REPRESENTING OUR COUNTRY.

You can keep talking about how your stinking yanks fly around the globe to play for your third rate national side.

It all is immaterial.

Carragher, Bentley, the American footballers…………….none of them are Beckham.

Beckham is the most famous footballer on the planet. and the rules that you apply to any other footballer does not apply. He’s earned the right to be treated differently. He’s earned the right to keep playing for his country and move to whatever club he wants.

He’s not Jamie Carragher or Landon Donovan. He’s David Beckham and start treating him as such.

Bex should buy his own contract; like I said, he must be rolling in the dough, either he or his sponsors will do it, he’s made the English team while playing for the Galaxy, it’s Fab Capello’s probblem if he doesn’t want to pick him.

Through the ages, this is a common dillemma actually, Scotland in the 1950s basically wanted all of their players playing in the Scottish league.

Things like this still happen sometimes… get over it.

Again, nowhere is according to http://www.worldsoccer.com the reknown writer Glanville, wrting about the game for over 50 years, Glanville an Englishman by the way and World SOCCER, a magazine around for a millenia it seems… calls the epl the “greed is good” league, adding the extra game, I like West Ham but that whole affair with Tevez stunk, you want Beckham to be on England so much, there’s tons of money there to buy up the contract if AC Milan doesn’t want to do that.

The Premier League is hardly English anymore. Is it an coincidence the big game kickoffs are all timed for Asian TV?

England and Beckham should understand the world game, but they do not. Does the fact that almost the entire Argentine and 100% of the Brazilian national team play in Europe but yet somehow manage to get back to represent their nations well in South American qualifying ever penetrate the obstinate, self absorbed, insular English mind?

Kartik’s point on another post that the English are used to taking coaches to games and leaving the morning of games and never crossing into another time zone or an area with different climates or geography applies here. If the Argentines and Brazilians all travel to represent their countries why must an Englishman play close to home to be considered?

Keep in mind it was the English, Spanish and German clubs who forcefully tried to stop several South Americans from representing their nations in the olympic football tournament. So if a player is under contract in europe they should honor it and it is club over country but if they happen to play America it is country over club. HYPOCRITES!

Stop using scholes and carrigher over and over dude…..SCholes left because Erikson the then manager moved him out of center mid field to play Gerrard and scholes had to play wide which he couldnt..so instead of being sacked for poor performance….he left…..Carrager is a different story and has received his share of hate from suppourters

I think Kartik has a very developed point of view and is unwilling to change it….He has the Right not to….

The Bottom line is Beckham is not playing the Best football he can in LA and since he has gone to Milan we have seen an improvement and hope he can keep it up…We do not want the mediocre football in LA to worsen his form….. Beckham is a kind of player who needs other talented players on the recieving end of his crosses to score goals…..he’s not some one who can just go ahead and score goals…American style football is different with high flying kicks and raised top ball with little ground game…..

Now the question is…How much is he worth?? Tshirt sales is the biggest income LA are getting from him…….he;s not improving their chances in the MLS…..with Milan…the side is different with him wide out in mid field and he also provides suppourt for ronaldinho and pato and kaka…..

LA …if they let him go create a positive image for MLS…..allowing some other European team to may be want to trade with them and give them some players…

“American style football is different with high flying kicks and raised top ball with little ground game…..”
That’s what you might see in a high school or lower level college game. Not so much with the pros. If you map the ball movement in most MLS matches, it the league it resembles most is the Mexican league. The individual players don’t move with the same rhythm as the Mexican players, but the team collectively moves the ball similarly.

“But the Question is ….do they care????”

I would say no. The English and continental European press’ collective bloviation has little to do with whether or not the Los Angeles Galaxy win an MLS Cup or make a profit.

Many American soccer fans (at least I have) have come to the conclusion that what comes out of the European press is always going to be biased and condescending to our community and our take on the game. Our national team could win the World Cup and the English press, rather than saying how good our team played, would rip them because the crest on their shirt says “U.S. Soccer” rather than “Football.” Trying to please them would be like trying to please the popular kids in middle school. You keep changing yourself and sucking up to them but they keep making fun of you. You get nowhere except more miserable. You eventually figure out that they make fun of you to try to make themselves less miserable at your expense. You get off the little mouse wheel and think for yourself and be yourself, regardless of what stupid, uninformed insults they throw at you. You realize that their idiocy has little to do with your self-worth.

The European press’ idiocy with respect to our soccer and soccer community has little to do with our national team’s or MLS’s future success on the field. AC Milan is just using a press that is all-too-eager to suck up to wealth and power for their own benefit. It’s as much about saving face in their own social circles as anything else. The Galaxy and the league is wise to stay out of a game that is rigged against them.

Serie A, wrongly I would think, is likewise, getting a lot of attention with AC Milan and Beckham, fact, last weekend, they televised the derby game versus Inter.

If Beckham is the most recognized footballer in the world and this is probably so, my gosh, what would the transfer fees be for fellow Englanders Frank Lampard? Steven Gerrard? Wayne Rooney?? Would the English teams, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester Utd. be happy with a 3 million (4 million, what ever it is) dollar transfer fee in this day and age for these players? We know they would not be… even if you factor in some sort of an age factor which I don’t think is a decisive factor here. Capello has coached Beckham before, so he should still be able to judge.

Karsh, the simple fact is that the LA Galaxy management, much like MLSE who own Toronto FC (as well as an NHL Team, CFL Team and NBA team), don’t care about winning the MLS Cup (or in MLSE’s NHL team’s case, the Stanley Cup). They care about making money, and in a league with a terrible TV contract, the best way to do that is to sell shirts, which Beckham is great at. If they happen to win the Cup with him there, even better, but they’re more concerned, like all sports owners, about the bottom line.

The simple fact is that Soccer or Futbol, whatever you want to call it, is big business. AC Milan thinks that the MLS cares about European press, which they don’t, because MLS realizes the same people who are outraged by this don’t watch MLS in the first place. AC Milan is trying to save money because they are playing hardball on negotiations.

No European team would ever be forced into selling a player for less than he is worth to the team. Beckham is worth more than 3 million. He can take his “better” futbol, and his “nationalism” and suck it. If he wants out, he can shell out his own cash, or get AC Milan to fork over some money. MLS is not so weak that it can just be bullied. It is, in many ways, akin to a second tier European league. Not bad quality of futbol, decent financing, and a decent reputation in the western hemisphere have made it so it can’t simply be stomped on any more by eurosnobs, and european teams.